Greece elects first-ever Jewish mayor in the city of Ioannia

Moisis Elisaf, a local medical doctor, is the first Jewish person to be elected as mayor in Greece.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A man holding a Greek flag walks on central Syntagma square in Athens. (photo credit: REUTERS)
A man holding a Greek flag walks on central Syntagma square in Athens.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Greek-Jewish medical doctor Moisis Elisaf will serve as the mayor if the north-western Greek city of Ioannia, Greek news-site Ekathimerini reported on Monday. 
 
Running as an independent candidate, he won 51.1% of the votes. 
 
Recovering from a massive debt crisis, which only officially ended in 2018, Greece saw an increase in the rise of Euro-skeptic and xenophobic forces like the Golden Dawn party. 
 
Greece, occupied by Nazi Germany during WW2, witnessed the destruction of Greek Jews. Roughly 80,000 Greek-Jews lived in the country before the Holocaust, the entire Jewish community of modern Greece numbers around 5,000 people. 
 
According to the , Elisaf also serves as the head of the Jewish community in Ioannia.